Russell Brand news: Katy Perry and Dannii Minogue comments resurface; comedian backed by Elon Musk and Andrew Tate amid rape allegations

Women in comedy work hard to keep themselves and each other safe from problematic male colleagues, writes comedian Vix Leyton.

Will the allegations against Russell Brand ignite the change the industry needs?

“It serves more as a depressing indictment of how, despite all the talk about time being up, a lot of people didn’t want to believe women – particularly when they’re accusing people they admire – and only started listening when a man spoke about it. The risk for Daniel Sloss is a lot lower than the women who came forward on Channel 4, and for the incredible female journalists who worked doggedly to get this piece over the line.

“It is a horrible time to be a woman in comedy at the moment, and the depressing part is that when the furore over this specific incident has died down, we know that very little will have changed.”

Read the full piece here:

Russell Brand’s personal life was once the subject of regular media headlines, surrounded by scandal and controversy due to his very public antics.

In recent years, however, Brand, 44, appears to have made efforts to keep his home life out of the spotlight, following a tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce from pop star Katy Perry.

The couple have three children together and dated briefly before Brand’s first marriage to Perry in 2010, while he was still growing his comedy career. They then reconnected after splitting from their respective partners.

Gallacher’s father is Scottish golfer Bernard Gallacher OBE, formerly a Ryder Cup captain for several European teams. Growing up in Surrey, England, she was raised on the Wentworth Estate, a sprawling estate in Runnymede comprising several luxury houses.

On Saturday night, Sugden tweeted about her own experiences with Brand. The 37-year-old claimed that Brand had joined the No More Page 3 campaign to remove topless models from the third page of The Sun newspaper after “attempting to sh** his way through other Page 3 girls and getting declined”.

“Unless you’ve been living under a rock, by now you’ll have heard about the latest ‘bombshell’ MeToo revelations targeting none other than self-confessed former ‘lothario’ and sex addict Russell Brand.

“You’ll likely have watched them, too: Channel 4 Dispatches released their “special investigation” containing a whole host of damning allegations about Brand on Saturday night, as part of a joint investigation with the Sunday Times. It included allegations of rape, sexual assault and abuse. Brand denies the accusations. For serious allegations to come out about a well-known male comedian – it’s big. It’s shocking. But surprising? Not so much.”

Read the full piece by Victoria Richards here:

TV bosses have launched an investigation into allegations of rape and sexual assault by British comedian Russell Brand.

Both BBC and Channel 4 are looking into his alleged behaviour and whether the heads of the channels knew about it.

The Mirror quoted an unidentified source as saying that the reviews will aim to investigate “if a blind eye was turned to” any claims.

Brand has denied any wrongdoing.

The source was quoted as saying: “The reviews will look at what concerns were raised at the time, and crucially if they were acted on. There is more than a whiff of panic among certain quarters about what the probe could uncover, and if a blind eye was turned to aspects of Russell Brand’s behaviour.”

In a new statement, a BBC spokesman said: “The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.

“Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.”

In the wake of sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand, foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “I think we have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless.”

He told the BBC: “I think there are some real challenges where you have these very, very acute differentials in power, whether that be in the entertainment industry, whether that be in politics and we see this in the commercial world as well.“I think we have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless because we, I think, collectively have missed opportunities to do the right thing and intervene much, much earlier, and we’ve got to be better at this.”

It comes as TV bosses have launched investigations into the allegations of rape, sexual assault and controlling behaviour by Brand.

Both the BBC and Channel 4 said they were looking into his alleged behaviour and whether the heads of the channels knew about it.

Brand has denied any wrongdoing.

Tucker Carlson backed Russell Brand on social media after the British comedian posted a video refuting all allegations of rape and sexual assault that have been levelled at him.

Mr Carlson wrote on X/Twitter: “Criticize the drug companies, question the war in Ukraine, and you can be pretty sure this is going to happen.”

In the video, Brand claimed that all his “relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual”.

He added: “I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.”

Meanwhile, Channel 4 has removed all programmes linked to Brand from its online repository. And Netflix is under pressure to follow suit.

Years before disturbing allegations emerged against Russell Brand, the comedian became embroiled in a high-profile row with legendary musician Rod Stewart.

The Independent has contacted Brand’s representatives for further comment.

At the GQ Man of the Year Awards in 2006, Brand incurred the ire of Stewart, 78, after making a crude remark about the singer’s daughter Kimberley.

While accepting the Most Stylish award during the ceremony, Brand made a jibe at Stewart, who was in the audience.

“Here’s to Rod Stewart who had a go at me earlier this year for too much womanising,” he said. “But then again I did have a go on his daughter.”

When Stewart was then invited on stage to accept his Outstanding Achiever award in recognition of his career in music, he didn’t hold back in voicing his disapproval of Brand.

“You went with my daughter, did you?” he said to Brand, before telling him to “stand up”.

An apparently chastened Brand then told the singer that he “took her out for one evening”, prompting Stewart to ask: “Did you behave yourself?”

Brand backtracked on his original remarks, telling Stewart: “I never touched that girl.”

“F***ing right, you didn’t,” Stewart replied, adding: “You mustn’t come up here and boast. I speak here as a father.”

The BBC, Channel 4 and a production company have said they are “urgently” investigating after four women made separate allegations of sexual assault while Russell Brand was a presenter on their programmes.

The comedian and actor, 48, has been accused of rape and sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films.

The claims were made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, and include allegations about Brand’s controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.

Brand vehemently denies the allegations and said all of his relationships have been “consensual”, in a video posted online.

The BBC said it is “urgently looking into the issues raised” while Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008, while Channel 4 announced it is conducting “its own internal investigation” following the allegations.

Elon Musk and Andrew Tate came out in support of Russell Brand after he was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotionally abusing four women.

Responding to a video posted by Brand on X/Twitter in which he claimed that he was being targeted as part of a coordinated attack for his right-wing criticism of the media, Musk wrote: “Of course. They don’t like competition.”

Andrew Tate, a far-right influencer who faces rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, also responded on X. In a post, Tate wrote: “Welcome to the club.”

Brand, in his video, said: “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”